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Booklist: Haunted Houses!

In honor of Halloween–a list of books that take place in and around some very different haunted houses!

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Boston, L.M. The Children of Green Knowe
Green Knowe is a haunted manor deep in an overgrown garden in the English countryside. Toseland arrives at the old house in the midst of a flood and discovers that it is inhabited not only by his great-grandmother, but by several half-seen children–inhabitants of the manor from the past.

Chase, Mary. The Wicked, Wicked Ladies in the Haunted House
Maureen, a disagreeable girl, finds a way into the forbidden, boarded-up Messerman Mansion. In the hall are portraits of seven young women with haughty expressions. Maureen says something nasty to each one, then notices that the figures seem to have shifted in their frames. She touches one, and instead of paint, she feels…silk? These seven Messerman daughters are wicked, wicked ladies, and Maureen has something they want. . . .

Cresswell, Helen. Bagthorpes Haunted
While on vacation, the eccentric and talented Bagthorpe family tries to contact the ghosts of their reputedly haunted house, pursues Cousin Daisy’s elusive goat, and general stirs up the quiet Welsh countryside.

Curry, Jane Louise. Moon Window
Jo Ellen has been deposited at a strange aunt’s doorstep while her mother honeymoons. She’s determined to run away – until she becomes involved in the mystery of an attic window which sends her on a journey to the past. What is the window’s secret, and why does her aunt seem a prisoner in her own home?

Enderle, Dotti. It Creeps!
Malcolm and his best friend Dandy, armed with a ghost detector ordered from Beyond Belief magazine, make a late-night trip to a haunted house, despite the warnings of Malcolm’s great-grandmother.

Freeman, Martha. Who Stole Halloween?
When Alex and his friend Yasmeen investigate the disappearance of cats in their neighborhood, they stumble onto a larger mystery involving a haunted house and a ghostly cat.

Griffin, Peni R. Ghost Sitter
Charlotte is looking forward to spending the summer in her new home; then her little brother starts talking about a new friend only he can see. Soon Charlotte realizes that her all-too-normal house is haunted-by the ghost of a girl who doesn’t realize that she’s dead. . . .

Hahn, Mary Downing. All the Lovely Bad Ones
While spending the summer at their grandmother’s Vermont inn, two prankster siblings awaken young ghosts from the inn’s distant past who refuse to “rest in peace.”

Kehret, Peg. Horror at the Haunted House
While acting in a “haunted house” featuring interesting deaths in history, Ellen is contacted by the ghost of a former resident, who seems to be protecting the collection of antique Wedgwood dishes on display there.

Klise, Kate. Dying to Meet You: 53 Cemetery Road
In this story told mostly through letters, children’s book author, I. B. Grumply, gets more than he bargained for when he rents a quiet place to write for the summer.

McCoy, Mimi. The Dead End
Casey Slater can’t believe her bad luck. Instead of the perfect summer vacation she’d planned, Casey is in a remote country town, where her parents are restoring an old, creaky, creepy house. Worst of all, everyone in town thinks the house is haunted. Soon Casey thinks so, too–a vase explodes, a china cabinet falls over on its own–and it seems like the ghost doesn’t want them there. Casey thought she’d be dying of boredom, but now she’s scared to death!

McKillip, Patricia.The House on Parchment Street
While staying with her cousin in England, Carol helps him find a way to discover the story behind several mysterious ghosts inhabiting the cellar of the house.

Netherclift, Beryl. The Snowstorm
Caroline, Kit and Richard are staying with Aunt Amethyst at Farthingales, their ancestral mansion in the country in England. They befriend the mysterious Michael, who tells them of the lost family fortune. Together, they follow ghosts, clues, and secret passages to find the treasure and solve the mystery.

Phipson, Joan. Haunted Night
Four teen-age girls spend a night of terror in an old isolated house reputedly haunted by a centuries-old ghost.

Prince, Maggie.The House on Hound Hill
Soon after she, her mother, and her younger brother move into an old house in an area once known as Beggarsgate, Emily begins to have terrifyingly real visions of seventeenth-century London devastated by the plague.

St. George, Judith. The Ghost, The White House, and Me
When KayKay Granger learns that the White House is haunted and uses that knowledge to play a prank on her family, she lands in big trouble with her mother, the United States President.

Sleator, William. Blackbriar
In the attempt to decipher a number of strange events after he moves into an old cottage, an orphaned teenaged boy discovers a group of English folk engaged in Devil worship.

Wright, Betty Ren. Crandall’s Castle
Charli’s impulsive uncle decides to buy the town’s abandoned, possibly haunted castle and fix it up as a bed-and-breakfast, but Charli and Sophia, a clairvoyant orphan who has come to stay with the Crandall family, know his plan is somehow dangerous.

Wright, Betty Ren. The Ghosts of Mercy Manor
Gwen, an orphan who comes to live with the Mercy family, discovers that the house is haunted by the ghost of a sad-looking young girl and is determined to solve the mystery behind her appearances.

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So try one of these books about mysterious, magical and memorable haunted homes in your home. You may be inspired to write a tale of your own!

Books on the list are appropriate for grades four through seven. Please ask a librarian if you have any questions about the list or about individual titles.